Heretofore the prior art has proposed various forms and embodiments of sliver feeding arrangements for use as in combination with related textile machines. Also, the prior art has proposed various arrangements by which reserve slivers were to be temporarily introduced into such sliver feeding arrangements to thusly, temporarily, replace broken or run-out normal slivers. Some of such reserve sliver feeding means depended upon gravity to move the leading portion of the reserve sliver to the intended location; others relied upon a power feed wherein a substantial length of lead portion of such reserve sliver was fed out and hopefully onto the proper location where the active sliver was to be substituted for while still others relied upon blasts of air to position and locate the leading portion of the reserve sliver.
Such prior art reserve sliver feeding devices and arrangements have been found to be generally unsatisfactory in that often the lead portion of the reserve sliver, in such prior art arrangements, has to be of substantial free length being supported at a point whereby the unsupported lead portion tends to dangle or otherwise lack proper or sufficient stability to prevent such reserve sliver lead portion from becoming caught by the related drive rollers or means at an incorrect relative location or from becoming caught by and aligned with a still active continuous sliver instead of being aligned with the broken or run-out sliver.
Accordingly, the invention as herein disclosed and described is primarily directed to the solution of the prior art problems associated with said reserve sliver feeding arrangements as well as other related and attendant problems.